The Need for Housing (short version)

People living with mental illness need help with housing. In the last
few decades there has been a push to release people from psychiatric
hospitals into the community. While this is a fine idea, it hasn't
always worked because there weren't enough supports to help people
integrate into the community. Among the homeless people living on
the streets of our cities are many psychiatric survivors. They have
nowhere to go. Some have plugged into social services which were able
to help only up to a point. Often, though, the only alternative to
living on the street was living in dirty and unsafe boarding houses.
Mainstay grew out of this need to give people living with mental illness
decent housing with attendant supports. There is, however, still a
desperate need for more housing.